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I was thinking of offering a flat percentage of each job however what do i do when business is slow?
My thoughts were to offer a base salary at minimum wage, that way if the tech didn't make commissions he would be guaranteed pay. Otherwise if business was too slow for an extended period of time, i could just lay off the tech. Hiring good people is tough but need to be business minded yet appreciative of employees.

Active Member

I have 2 employees that I pay by the hour. The lead tech/driver makes $16 per hour and the helper makes $13. On slow days I will creat work by either having them clean certain rooms in my own house or offering free cleanings to my friends or Neigbor's just to keep them busy. They both get a 4 hour minimum for coming in. They may sound crazy to some but keeping guys happy means keeping them around.

Smart N Kleen

Weakly lol. I usually pay my helper from the time we leave my house till we get back. $15 per hour. Right now since it's snowing and cold I pay a percentage whatever I think I should. Like yesterday we work an hour and a half and I paid him $50. I'm set for the winter but my helper needs to make money for his small family.

Well-Known Member

Back in the days when we had employees, Mack Clark said hourly while training (first two weeks) then percentage. It works

Prior to that we were straight hourly. Our main lead tech (actually my sister in law) was hourly with a helper. Mack said one person per truck. Did she whine! I could understand - change is hard. I told her that we would keep it the way it is for a month and watch the numbers to see how it would work. After two weeks she was begging me to switch.

Percentage will make them work more efficient. If you pay them hourly, they will be like the County workers that drive 15 mph in a 50 mph zone.

Concerning slow times, if they are out cleaning, then your job is to be out marketing. If they aren't cleaning, they can help you in marketing.

"They don't hate you, they hate success"
"Nothing means more than quality, nothing"
"Kill them with grind, logic and sound reasoning"
"What you do speaks so loud I can't hear what you say"
"Those pointing fingers are the always the worst offenders"
"Everything I do I do for my family and friends, everything!"
"Money is printed everyday and everyday I'm looking for it"
"It's not your income that determines your wealth, it's your outcome"
"We are all legends in our own minds. Truth is we are all just works in progress"
"When you stick your neck out many will want to take a swing at you. Success is the greatest revenge"

Well-Known Member

one thing to think about if you have a multi truck operation is to have different types of bonuses or contests every other month to keep things interesting. Keeps them sharp and builds your bottom dollar!

Member

Back in the days when we had employees, Mack Clark said hourly while training (first two weeks) then percentage. It works

Prior to that we were straight hourly. Our main lead tech (actually my sister in law) was hourly with a helper. Mack said one person per truck. Did she whine! I could understand - change is hard. I told her that we would keep it the way it is for a month and watch the numbers to see how it would work. After two weeks she was begging me to switch.

Percentage will make them work more efficient. If you pay them hourly, they will be like the County workers that drive 15 mph in a 50 mph zone.

Concerning slow times, if they are out cleaning, then your job is to be out marketing. If they aren't cleaning, they can help you in marketing.

Yeah. I'm thinking commission too. Other colleagues said the same thing about hourly. No incentive to upsell or book extra jobs. What do you suggest should be the average salary and commission % range?

"They don't hate you, they hate success"
"Nothing means more than quality, nothing"
"Kill them with grind, logic and sound reasoning"
"What you do speaks so loud I can't hear what you say"
"Those pointing fingers are the always the worst offenders"
"Everything I do I do for my family and friends, everything!"
"Money is printed everyday and everyday I'm looking for it"
"It's not your income that determines your wealth, it's your outcome"
"We are all legends in our own minds. Truth is we are all just works in progress"
"When you stick your neck out many will want to take a swing at you. Success is the greatest revenge"

Ok so with that said, what is the avg of each job or what is the average yearly? I ask because my price point is in the middle. It's cheaper to keep an employee than recruit, hire, train and loss due to mistakes so not sure if to go 30%.

Moderator

That's the hard part of being a business owner, sometimes you have to separate personal feelings from what's best for business. With that being said if you have employees we should be trying to keep work coming in but some tomes things are out of our control.

Well-Known Member

I pay $12.50 per hour + 10 percent on sales. If the tech sells an add on service he gets 10% of entire job, not just the add on. This is a super aggressive comp plan for my area. My competitors pay $9..

Preferred Vendor

I was thinking of offering a flat percentage of each job however what do i do when business is slow?
My thoughts were to offer a base salary at minimum wage, that way if the tech didn't make commissions he would be guaranteed pay. Otherwise if business was too slow for an extended period of time, i could just lay off the tech. Hiring good people is tough but need to be business minded yet appreciative of employees.

I wouldn't do commission to shield your customers from a high-pressure sales pitch. That's one way to kill your repeat business. I've tried percent, which seems the most logical, BUT if you do percent, your techs will NOT refill their chems, take care of the van or shop as they'll only care about cleaning carpet. I'm currently paying hourly, which has it pros and cons, but I'm still thinking of other pay scales that makes everyone happy.